Hi All,

Last time I posted I was discussing whether to buy my Octy lease car (07 plate Octy II 1.9TDi PD Elegance DSG). I duly bought it and no sooner had I done that, a gearbox problem developed. The crux of the problem is when gearbox gets warm, it surges on starting off and is impossible to pull off smoothly. Gears judder on deceleration and on occassion, the box "thumps" in to reverse or drive.

So I took it to the Skoda dealer who plugged it in to the diagnostics machine. They could not find a fault but agreed after test driving there was a problem.

They say normally, the first step is to replace the geabox oil and filter. However this was replaced in July on servicing and is not suspected as causing a problem.

They cannot guarantee, but suspect a problem with the metatronic box and say this is the next item to replace. The cost, a whopping £1,476.

On a ring round of other Skoda garages near me, I can bring this cost down to £1,260 incl VAT + parts. The other dealer said I should take it to them for a second opinion, but what's the point if the diagnostics are clean?

The dilemma is this. Do I:-

(1) Pay for the orginal dealer to do this job, try to push him down on price and pray to HIM UPTHERE that this will fix it?

(2) Take it to another dealer for a 2nd opinion (would have to pay again for diagnotsics)

(3) Try and sell the car for approximate price I bought it for (£8,000) and buy a something similar.

Any tech advice you guys may have for the problem would be well appreciated. Your opinions on my options are similarly also very welcome.

Thanks for reading.

ps. I have asked the dealer to contact Skoda UK to see if they will "help" with the cost, given a 4 yo gearbox should not have these problems. I wonder if anyone has had any luck with this approach?

Anthony.

When did you buy it? Mileage and price paid? How did you pay for it? How long before the fault developed??

When did you buy it? Mileage and price paid? How did you pay for it? How long before the fault developed??

I have had the car from new as a lease car, bought from the lease company for £8,000 in July ( as I have never had any problems in 4 years !). Fault developed in the last 2 months. Mileage 32K

Edited 11 October, 201114 yr by Retsef

If your purchasing the vehicle off of the lease company in July counts as a "new purchase", then you have a fault that's developed in the first 6 months following purchase, so it would be deemed to have been sold faulty, and would be up to the supplier to fix it: http://www.oft.gov.uk/business-advice/treating-customers-fairly/sogahome/sogaexplained.

If you have legal assistance cover (comes as part of RAC breakdown cover, for instance), then it might be worth a chat with them as to what your rights are.

martinsh - that is very good information, for which I am thankful.

In the meantime, I have been on the phone to the dealer and Skoda UK. Skoda have agreed that this gearbox issue should not happen on a vehicle of my age and with FSH with Skoda. They have therefore agreed to pay 100% of the part value for a mechatronics box and 50% of the labour cost for fitting. In effect, this means I will have to pay £250 for the 50% labour not covered by them.

I consider this is fair and reasonable, (actually I think it is an outstanding result for which Skoda UK customer service should be applauded).

Even with the possibility of having the lease company pay this, I have decided to just put the car in to the garage again to have the new box fitted.

Let's hope that this is the solution to the problem - if not, at least their is precedent from them that liability does not lie with me.

Will update the thread on Friday when can returns with a shiny new metatronics box.

Good result.